Odell Beckham Jr. regrets the penalty, but not his celebration

Odell Beckham Jr. met with New York Giantsowner John Mara on Wednesday and came away feeling he embarrassed himself more than the organization, and his only regret was that his actions drew a penalty flag.

Beckham pretended to pee like a dog in the end zone on Sunday after scoring the first of his two touchdowns in a 27-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 15-yard penalty was assessed on the ensuing kickoff.

Mara told The New York Post in an email on Monday that he was “very unhappy” with his star receiver’s behavior and that the situation would be addressed internally.

Mara and Beckham met on Wednesday. Beckham was asked afterward if he felt like he embarrassed the organization.

“More myself, I guess,” he said. “Only thing is just causing the penalty for the team. That’s really it. I don’t even know if they knew to call the flag or not because the look of confusion on their face was, ‘Do we throw the flag or not?’ And then, it was kind of just like, they threw the flag. So, only regret is causing us 15 yards, having to cover a long kickoff. Thankfully, we didn’t have any setback from there. Covered the kickoff well.”

Beckham didn’t apologize to Mara during their meeting.

“Mr. Mara and I talked,” he said. “Him and I talked. We had a private discussion in his office. We talked about it, him and I.”

Beckham wouldn’t specify whether his celebration had any connection to President Donald Trump’s recent comments, a claim he made recently on social media. He did indicate, much like he did after the game, that he didn’t know his actions would draw a penalty.

The NFL has loosened its rules on celebrations this season. The team met with the officials several weeks back about the new rules.

“I don’t think any of us know the rules on what you can do celebrating,” he said. “They put a new thing in. You celebrate, you only have 40 seconds. You celebrate for 20, you got 20 seconds to run on and kick a field goal, so I don’t really know.

“I don’t really know how it works, but I do know going forward I have a lot better celebration.”

It doesn’t seem to matter to coach Ben McAdoo.

“Whether it was or wasn’t a penalty, it still wasn’t something we’re condoning,” McAdoo said of the crude celebration. Beckham also had conversations on the subject with McAdoo, who was unhappy that his team earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because of an inappropriate celebration for the second straight week. Rookie tight end Evan Engram grabbed his crotch after his first career touchdown the previous Monday night in a loss to the Detroit Lions.

This is what McAdoo finds problematic.

“Celebration penalties are something you can’t have,” he said. “That is a poor reflection on me and the program and the organization.”

The Giants committed 10 penalties in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, including seven in the fourth quarter. Beckham’s was among the most egregious indiscretions.

McAdoo declined to say if Beckham would be benched for his actions despite being asked directly about his intentions.

“We have a plan for it,” he said. “We are going to handle it internally, and we have a plan for it moving forward.”

The Giants (0-3) are looking for their first win of the season on Sunday in Tampa Bay.